Ballast car



W. R. SCOTT.

BALLAST CAR- APPLICATION FILED APR- 6. 1921.

Patented June 6, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I If Fll Hliiiii Int e15 tor. 4/42 A. Jazz- W. R. SCOTT.

BALLAST CAR.

APPLICATION FILED APR. a, 1921.

1,418,402. PatentedJune 6, 1922 1 ,41 I' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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n m raw NITVED STATES FFICEI.

WILLIAM R. SCOTT, OF HOUSTON, TEXAS.

BALLAST CAR.

Application filed April 6,

last-cars or gondola cars used for ballast purposes, in which provisionis made, by means of door or slide controlled dumping pockets, for thedistribution of material in rows deposited adjacent the rails, eitheroutside or inside or both, and with or without a dlverting member toassist in the distribuion.

The object of my invention is to clear the rails of the depositedmaterial'ahead of the car wheels, thus preventing derailments, and atthe same time to distribute such material to either or both sides of therail properly and efliciently.-

To this end my invention consists in the novel improvement inballast-cars which I shall hereinafter fully describe by reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which-- Fig. 1 is a vertical transversesection of the body of a ballast car taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 4,looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the dumping'pocketsone on each side of the center member of the car; the distributing anglemembers associated with the pockets; and the initial effect, with-regardto the rails, of the. deposition of the material.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of the car body taken on theline 22 of Fig. 4,

looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the rail-clearingand spreading .members and their effect in cleaning the heads of therails and distributing the material to each side. Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view ofthe ballast showing it after the rail is cleared.

Fig. 4c is a longitudinal section of a portion of the car, showing therail clearing and spreading member in side elevation and in operativeposition with respect to the dumping pocket, the car wheel and the rail.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4. r

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the safety-hook for positively carrying therail clearing and spreading member in non-functional position.

Fig. 7 is a detail of the end lever for op- Specification of LettersPatent Patented J 11119 6, 1922.

1921: Serial No. 459,079.

crating the winding shaft of the adjusting mechanism of the railclearing and spreading members.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the railclearing and spreading membershowing its mountingand means for adjustment.

Fig. 9 is a diagrammatic plan View, on a reduced scale, showing therelation of the track-clearing and spreading members to the car, itswheels and the rails.

Referring particularly toFig. 1, the numeral 1 indicates the body of acar having dumping pockets 2 on each side of a central member 3, saidpockets having controlling gates 41:, which, as shown by the dottedlines. are adapted to open in order to dump the material from thepockets. 5 indicates diverting members to assist in the distribution ofthe gravel. 6 are rock shafts which through a system of cranks, leversand linksindicated generally by 7 operate the gates 4. These are allparts of a well known type of ballast car and need no furtherdescription, the showing here made being ample for the full disclosureof my improvements.

In F ig. 1 the general effect of the dumping and distribution of thematerial with relation to the rails 8, is indicated by the rows ofmounds or piles of the material 9; and it will be seen from this showingthat which in practice takes place, namely, that the ballast materialdoes not sufiiciently clear the rails, so that in dumping successivecars the rails are so obstructed as to derail the cars.

The object of my invention is to avoid this difiiculty, and I accomplishsaid object by the provision of rail-clearing and spreading membersattached to the car behind the dumping pockets and ahead of and so lo-,

wheels and the rails will clearlyap-pear.

The rail clearing and spreading member indicated by the numeral 10 is athree sided structure, forming a plow-like device with a double moldboard or rearwardly divergent wings joini 1g a1 flattened front. Thisstruc-' ture is mounted for vertical adjustment in a housing guide 11 ofsubstantially similar shape, said housing having bent ends 11 in whichthe ends of the member 10 slidably fit.

The housing guide 11 is rigidly suspended from a sill or cross beam 3'of the car 1 pocket. Wall, Fig. 4:, and rotated by a lever 18 (Figs. 2and 7 on the side of the car. By these means the clearing member 10 maybe adjusted vertically to vary the relation of its lower edge to thetrack rail. 10 is a wearing shoe on the bottom of the front of member10, Fig. 8. In order to safely carry the clearing member 10 in itselevated or non-functional position, there is a hook 19, carried by achain 20, Fig. 4, from one of the hangers 12, said hook being adaptedwhen the upper edge of the member 10 rises above the upper edge of thehousing guide 11 to be passed into a hole in the projecting edge ofmember 10, as seen in Fig. 6. As shown in Figs. at and 5, the railclearing and spreading member 10 is located above the track rail 8, inadvance. of the car wheel 21, and behind the dumping pocket 2, with itsfront pointingaway from the wheel and towards the pocket. The effect ofthe member, thus arranged is shown in Fig. 2, wherein it is shown infunctional position operating along the rail head and on each sidethereof, clearing the rail and distributin the material to each sidelevel with the rail head; and in Fig. 3, such surplus material as may bepushed aside and rise in mounds is safely distant from the rail.

There will, of course, be one of these rail clearers associated witheach rail and dumping'pocket, and as shown in Fig. 9, in order toprovide for the reversal of the car-travel, a pair of such members willbe located at each end of the dumping pockets in proper spread itsidewise; a housing guide of substantially the shape of said member andin which it is slidably mounted for adjustment to and from functionalposition; means for fixedly carrying said housing guide under the car;and means for adjusting the railclearing and spreading member.

2. In a ballast car means. overlying each rail of the road-bed fordumping material thereupon, a rail clearing and spreading member withdivergent wings, under the car to the rear of the dumping means and inadvance of the car-wheel, adapted to clear from the rail the materialdumped and spread it sidewise; a housing guide of substantially theshape of said member and in which it is slidably mounted for adjustmenttoand from functional position, said guide having divergent wings withterminal bent ends to receive the ends of the wings of the spreadingmember; means for fixedly carrying said housing guide under the car;means for adjusting the rail-clearing and spreading member; and meansfor locking said member out of functional position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

' WILLIAM R. SCOTT.

